Apple Mac Pro MB871LL/A Desktop

  15 Responses to “Apple Mac Pro MB871LL/A Desktop”

1. Neurasthenic says:

   July 21, 2010 at 1:11 pm

   Rating:
   I bought this Mac Pro to replace a PowerMac that was over seven years old, and which had fallen inadequate to handle my increasingly demanding digital image processing, and which was all but worthless at running Microsoft Windows.

   This Mac Pro is probably 8x faster than the PowerMac at most tasks, and its case design is lovely. The way PCI cards snap into and out of place without screws, the easy accessibility of the DIMM slots on a pull-out card, and the ability to add and remove drives without cables, all reflect Apple’s obsession with details.

   Despite having at least one massive fan in the case, it is much quieter than the PowerMac. In another advantage over the older machine, it has ports on both the front and back. As with previous Mac Pros and PowerMacs, RAM, disk, connectivity, and optical drives are all very expandable.

   The Mac Pro runs Windows Vista faster than any dedicated Windows box I’ve ever used, and with VMware Fusion, I can even run Windows applications within the Mac environment. The Mac Pro comes with all sorts of Apple software, though I use mostly third party alternatives (my first three installations were Microsoft Office, Adobe CS4, and Mathematica). The latter two run much better on this than they, or their predecessors, had ever run on the PowerMac. I’m keeping the old box around only to run some much older software, which by virtue of needing Mac OS9 or some other quirk, won’t run on the new box. In general, software compatibility is excellent. I had no trouble with drivers for my tablet or printer or any of my scanners (Nikon, Canon, and Fujitsu).

   What’s not to love? Some will complain about the price, but I’m not going to bother; if you want a cheaper machine, iMacs and Mac Minis are available. The absence of Firewire 400 was a disappointment for me, though adapter cables and PCI cards are readily available. I bought a Sonnet card that adds two firewire 400 ports for about $50. This box is PCI-Express only, so you won’t be able to use standard PCI or PCI-x cards. Some may grouse about Apple’s standard keyboard and/or mouse, but I use third party solutions there too.

   I got 7+ years out of my last computer, and I would not be surprised to get the same out of this one.

   Reply
2. Mark Cutler says:

   July 21, 2010 at 1:33 pm

   Rating:
   I bought this to replace a 4-year-old G5 (dual 2.7 Ghz).I push my Macs to the limit – the new one now has three video cards to support 5 monitors (way cheaper than even just 1 30 inch monitor), 16 Gb of memory, and 3 hard drives for a total of 2+ TB of space. I typically run 15 or more programs simultaneously (Word, Excel, Safari, Mail, Quicken, iTunes, a calendar program, a database, Crossover (to run a Windows based legal research engine), and more).

   The new MacPro has been running for a week now, without a single freeze or unexpected quit, or even a spinning beachball. It is the quietest Mac I have owned since my original 128k Mac. It is so quiet I often am surprised to see it is still running. It is much faster in every respect.

   I was hoping for improved stability and speed, but I never expected it to be this stable right out of the box – I thought it would take a few updates to the system software to get rid of new strangeness in a new architecture, but this is already as close to flawless as I ever expected to see in a Mac that is pushed beyond normal usage. Also, the migration assistant easily moved everything I needed from my old Mac to my new one.

   Be alert – there is no wireless card in the standard configuration. To my knowledge, the only way to get one is at an Apple store for $49. But installation is free and wireless internet is a breeze once the card is installed.

   Reply
3. D. Amini says:

   July 21, 2010 at 1:44 pm

   Rating:
   I owned a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 Ghz before the video card died. I use two cinema HD monitors and the AGP cards are hard to find for that older model. I am not a super power user so I seldom encode heavy duty video. I am a light user of Aperture and Photoshop. Trying to do light video and photo editing on my G5 was not painfully slow but the computer was showing its age. Typical tasks took a while; I would walk away and sometimes come back an hour later. The G5 was loud and hot. The ATI x800 XT was a noisy and a buggy video card. When I opened my new Mac Pro I was wondering if I should have bought last year’s dual quad processor (2.8 Ghz) instead of the new Nehalem single processor (2.6 Ghz). The prices were pretty close. The 2009 model has more RAM and a bigger hard drive. Rest assured this new machine is no slouch. I am not sure how many professional Mac users use Mac Pros and how many get by with the Macbook Pro; but, I think that if high end professionals can use a laptop with a dual core processor then I certainly should be OK with a single Quad core processor. I ordered mine with a second NVIDIA GT 120 video card. This way I have two Dual Link DVI ports and two Mini DisplayPorts. Remember, the standard computer ships with a single video card that offers only one Dual Link DVI port. The other port is Apple’s Mini DisplayPort which works only with Apple’s new 24 inch glossy display. The adapter needed to plug in any other monitor (think 30 inch Cinema HD) into the Mini DisplayPort is a ridiculous $100. After buying this adapter, there is no guarantee it will work!!! Hence, I just bought an extra video card. The case is a breeze to work with. I slipped in the video card without any screwdriver or tools. My old hard drive went into the second slot tray (I did need a screwdriver to fasten the hard drive to the tray). The hard drive trays are side by side and pull out like a drawer. No wires, no broken fingernails, no bloody knuckles. RAM can be added and swapped out easily too. After connecting each monitor to a separate video card, I booted it up and imported all my old settings. The machine was done setting up and ready to roll in 25 minutes. The fan noise from the video cards is barely noticeable. My Macbook is three times louder. I don’t know what people are talking about when they say that the video card fan is noisy? I suppose if you put it on top of your desk next to your monitor it might be noticeable, but it is not any louder than any laptop. I have yet to see the dreaded beach ball spinning. This is the quietest and fastest machine I have ever used. I tried a 17 inch (2.6 Ghz) Macbook Pro at the Apple store and it was much noisier and much slower. It is possible that the laptop was running SMC fan control so I won’t complain about the laptop fan. If you are one of those people that puts their laptop on top of those cooling devices/fans then you can appreciate just how noisy things can get. For me, the reliability and easy access to Mac Pro case make this a long term investment. I think it should easily last 5 years. There are only 4 RAM slots and I can upgrade from the standard 3GB to 8GB for $150. If you need more than 8GB RAM then opt for the dual quad core model and double the available slots. If you need that much RAM you probably are not going to be happy with this single processor machine anyway. I think that some of the hype about Ghz and number of processors has made people speed crazy. There are some who would disagree with me and argue that you can never have too many processors and too much RAM. I would look at the bottom line and budget accordingly. Remember that the next new model will be out next year! Be honest with yourself and remember to factor in the costs of upgrades like HDs, RAM, Applecare, Video cards, Ports etc. One final note; I do miss the Firewire 400 ports. OWC sells Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 adapters that fit over the plugs. It is a $5 fix. I think that you will be happy with this machine if you don’t need multiple processors and aren’t going to add over 16 GB of RAM. It is plenty fast and very quiet. If you are a home user and don’t need to open the case to upgrade parts, consider the iMac as an alternative. It comes with a bright 24 inch screen and is almost as fast.

   Reply
4. S. Jacobs says:

   July 21, 2010 at 2:13 pm

   Rating:
   I’ve been a Mac user for many years and recently began doing a lot of 3D rendering and heavy duty graphics work. My current Macbook Pro has been great in every respect, but it falls short when doing any sort of heavy graphics work and I was using a quad-core windows (yes, I know) system to take on that job.

   I finally decided to make a clean break from windows and purchased the dual quad core 2.26 Ghz Mac Pro. Since the stock 6 GB of RAM wasn’t enough, I dropped in 12 GB of aftermarket RAM and Apples 4870 card plus 3 1 TB drives. FINALLY!! A system that I could get stuff done with!

   The Nehalam processors are a gigantic leap forward over the older architecture. AMD has been putting the memory controller on the CPU die for a few years and Intel finally followed suit with incredible results. Memory bandwidth is substantially increased and if you add RAM in “threes”, you’ll be able to use all three memory channels for each core. If you need more RAM, you can always add a fourth module, but you’ll fall back to dual-channel operation. This won’t be an issue usually unless you run applications that saturate the memory bus.

   The Mac Pro has three available drive bays that are extremely easy to add drives into. It’s a matter of just positioning the drive sled on the bottom of the SATA drive and attaching the four captive screws. There’s a nice rubber washer there to help reduce vibration and transmitted noise. A very nice touch. There are no cables between the drive and motherboard. They simply slide into a socket on the motherboard and the inside of the system remains very clean looking.

   Upgrading memory was simple. After powering down the system and opening the case, there are two clips to flip and the CPU and memory tray at the bottom of the system slides out for simple replacement. No more busted knuckles!

   The video card that came with the system was fine for nearly any use, but I needed to have something faster for the 3D work I do, so I found out that replacing the stock card was also very easy. There is a retention bar that slides out of the way by pushing a button on the card guide and a couple of thumb screws to remove, but it’s far easier to replace the card on this system than any PC I’ve ever worked on before.

   After all of my upgrades, I was astonished to find how quiet the Mac Pro is. I’d gotten used to the loud whine of my Windows systems and for a few days, I’d have to look down at the Mac to see if it was running. It’s pleasant to be able to listen to music again and not fans and hard drives.

   Apple’s included sufficient ports for USB and Firewire, but you’ll have to use have to use FW800-400 adapters if you want to attach FW 400 devices to the Mac.

   This was a substantial investment, but the rewards are also substantial. My render times are greatly reduced and when Snow Leopard is released, I expect to see even bigger improvements in system performance.

   Reply
5. David Garth says:

   July 21, 2010 at 2:53 pm

   Rating:
   I have been a heavy user of personal computers since the original IBM PC came out in 1982. My needs gradually increased as the technology advanced and the capabilities of PCs improved. Lately, I’ve needed to switch from standard definition video editing to high definition. The dual Xeon processor HP workstation (X4000) that I had used for years was getting long in the tooth and couldn’t handle the demands of high definition. So I purchased a new Dell XPS 435T with the newest quad core i7 processor and 6gb of DDR3 memory. Even though the machine specs far exceeded the published minimums for high definition editing, I suffered through about two months of agony. The Dell would crash about every five minutes of editing, and countless hours on the phone with Dell technical service and replacing the machine with another of the same model, could not solve the problem. Dell graciously refunded my purchase price. But now I was two months behind on a very critical project.

   Two of my friends who are also professional editors pleaded with me to try a Mac Pro. I was reluctant, partially because I wasn’t at all familiar with Macs, and partially because I wasn’t sure I wanted to learn a new operating system. But, I did decide to take a risk and bought a quad-core Mac Pro with 8gb of memory and an additional WD Veciloraptor 10,000 rpm hard drive. It was the best decision I ever made. The operating system was incredibly easy to learn. And the stability of the machine even under great stress is unbelievable. I never knew anything this good was available. And even with the learning curve, I’m well on my way to finishing my project.

   Are Macs more expensive? Yes and no. If you compare them to consumer-grade PCs, they are. (I spent more than $1,000 more on my Mac Pro than I had on the DEel 435T.) But they aren’t consumer-grade. The construction of my Mac Pro is unlike any consumer product you’re likely to have seen. The case is beautifully machined, with no internal wires. It takes about a minute to swap hard drives. Overall, it exudes quality and actually exceeds the quality of Dell or HP pro workstations, and it’s priced about the same. Additional software costs about the same, but the programs that are included with the Mac are mostly better than included with Windows. Conclusion: if you use your computer for serious work and can’t afford to fight your computer, the additional cost, if any, is certainly worth it.

   Is it perfect? No. I wish it came with more USB ports and a multi-card reader and an illuminated keyboard. (All are available as accessories.) I also wish it had six memory slots (it has four.)

   Bottom line: I love this computer and I can’t imagine ever buying another Windows machine.

   Reply
6. B. Scammell says:

   July 21, 2010 at 3:15 pm

   Rating:
   I became a Mac convert four years ago, when I picked up one of Apple’s new Intel-based MacBook Pro laptops. I eventually picked up a 20″ Apple Cinema Display to use at home when I want the desktop experience. Up to this point I’ve been very satisfied with Apple’s products, particularly their displays. I’ve been considering upgrading for quite some time now, and about a month ago I decided I to pick up a new 27″ iMac quad-core i5. I’ve always been wary of the notion of the “all-in-one” PC. A selling point on the new 27″ iMac is the two-way display port, which will allow you to continue using the iMac display with a new machine when the time to upgrade comes.

   First the pros:

   As far as Apple products go, the quad-core iMac represents a bargain. While not as expandable as a Mac Pro, speed benchmark tests have shown a $2k iMac to be comparable to a $2.2k MacPro, with the benefit of a built in screen. I was impressed with the machine’s speed and ability to multi-task; I could run both Mac OS X and XP via Parallels, run Aperture and Photoshop CS4 all simultaneously with no trouble. The desktop space afforded by the 27″ was great, while having the 20″ ACD as a secondary display added to the machine’s usability.

   Now the BIG CON…

   There was only one flaw with the machine. The display was one of the primary selling points. I’m an amateur photographer, however I was immediately encountering difficulty calibrating the display’s color. I quickly determined there was a noticeable shift in color temperature from the top of the screen to the bottom, with the bottom third of the screen displaying a warm and yellowish hue. I quick Google search revealed I was not alone. Disappointed, I called Apple support and arranged an appointment at the local Apple Store. I hauled the big machine back to the store and explained and displayed the issue. The employee behind the Genius Bar seemed genuinely surprised when I showed him and offered a replacement. To be sure the replacement wasn’t also a dud, he fired it up on the spot. This machine was worse than the first. A third machine was pulled from the stock room… same issue. The three machines are all manufactured within eight weeks of one another (the first a week 49 machine, the second a week 51 machine and the third a week 45 machine). I was sent home with the third machine offered, but last week returned it, requesting a 100% refund, which was granted. Shooting three for three, I’m under the impression that the problem is more wide-spread than Apple is willing to admit, and represents a fundamental flaw in the hardware. While the tinge is sometimes difficult to notice out of the box, it grows worse with use.

   Aside from the poor-quality display I enjoyed using the iMac, but I expect more from a product which is billed as a machine “with the ultimate display”. I would assume it will take Apple a couple of months to get to the root of the problem and fix whatever flaws exist in the manufacturing process, or the design of the machine itself. Apple has dropped the ball on this one. I would advise anybody in the market for an iMac to wait until the next major upgrade to drop your hard-earned cash on the product.

   For further reading check out the following website. While there are users with issues other than the yellow-tinge, this was the only problem I encountered and seems to be the primary complaint since Apple updated the iMac firm-ware to address the screen-flicker issue. Again, think twice before buying one of these things. Apple is working on the issue, and I think it would behoove most consumers to wait until a fix has been positively identified and implemented.

   [...]

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7. D. Bowman says:

   July 21, 2010 at 3:55 pm

   Rating:
   Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R7CJP8XZ3V1HK It is hard to capture how beautiful this computer is in words much less video.
   
   You have to see it in person.

   I accidentally listed it on-screen as 2.26GHz, it should say 2.66GHz.

   I took a stab at a video review.

   I hope you enjoy.
   
   Let me know your feedback, thanks!

   Reply
8. korova says:

   July 21, 2010 at 4:07 pm

   Rating:
   First things first: the iMac offered on this page appears to have the Intel Core i5 quad-core processor, NOT a Core 2 Duo. In addition, a more capable quad-core processor, the i7, is available as a build-to-order option from the online Apple Store. Be sure you’re looking at the configuration you want. Apple makes four 27″ Aluminum iMac processor setups in all: two with the Core 2 Duo, an i5, and an i7.

   Now then, on with the show. A quick look around here shows that many reviewers have already discussed the essential hardware and software features of the 27″ iMac. So, rather than repeating stuff that has already been said, I am going to focus this review on my experience of upgrading from a G4 igloo iMac that was running System 10.5.8 .

   Migration Assistant
   
   *I used a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 cable to move the contents of my old computer to the new machine with Migration Assistant.
   
   *The process was virtually seamless, with only a few minor adjustments necessary to the transferred data. Only four applications required reinstallation: ClamXav, iTunes (due to the Soundflower plugin–in any case, no music was lost or damaged), Microsoft Expression Media 2, and a Juniper Networks remote access program (part of a corporate telecommuting package).
   
   *Rules for Little Snitch, a third party utility, need to be reestablished.
   
   *Customized preferences for Spotlight must be reentered.

   Magic Mouse
   
   *iMacs now come with a wireless mouse as standard equipment. The Magic Mouse is a vast improvement over the Apple Mouse (aka Mighty Mouse) because it doesn’t have a roller ball that eventually stops working. In fact, there aren’t any external moving parts on the Magic Mouse, other than the on/off switch.
   
   *Exposé and Dashboard functions are now on the top row of the keyboard, not on mouse buttons.

   Keyboard
   
   *The chiclet style keys took me a little while to get used to, but now I prefer them to traditional “long stroke” keys.
   
   *For some reason, Apple has made a compact laptop keyboard the standard iMac keyboard (Steve Jobs must be nostalgic for the original 1984 Mac keyboard). Anybody who relies on Page keys for navigation or on a numeric keypad for data entry is out of luck.
   
   *An extended keyboard with Home/Pg Up/Pg Dn/Delete keys and a number pad is available as a build-to-order option, along with additional memory and other treats, at the online Apple Store.

   Audio System
   
   *Optical digital audio input and output requires cables or cable adapters with 3.5mm plugs. Standard size TOSLINK connectors won’t work. Also, digital audio I/O is run through the microphone and headphone ports. It is consequently impossible to use headphones or an external mic when the computer is setup for optical digital audio use.
   
   *The speakers are a weak point in the design. They are small, underpowered, and sound tinny. I think the igloo iMacs had much better sound. If I recall correctly, they had a specially tuned amplifier–plus the speakers were fairly large and were not built into the computer housing. Users who use their iMac as their main music source or who work with music and sound will want to buy a separate pair of speakers.

   Using the computer: screen, fan noise, heat, Rosetta
   
   *This iMac is all about the gigantic 27″ screen. It’s incredibly sharp and bright, with better-than-HD resolution. Excel users will love being able to see columns A-AE and rows 1-95 all at once at 100% zoom. No more wasting time scrolling around and splitting windows. Photos, movies, and graphics all look absolutely fabulous.
   
   *I initially thought I would hate the glossy finish on the screen, especially after seeing how much glare demo models at the Apple Store showed. But, as it turns out, the shiny glass isn’t distracting at all in my home office. That said, anybody who hasn’t ever seen a glossy screen computer in person should go check one out before placing an order.
   
   *Something that I miss from my igloo iMac is the ability to move the screen both from left to right (x-axis) and up and down (y-axis). Aluminum iMac screens can only be swiveled up and down, in a fairly limited range.
   
   *Under most conditions, the computer runs very quietly. Fan noise is normally inaudible.
   
   *The top of the computer can become noticeably hot to the touch. Not hot enough to cook the proverbial egg, but definitely warmer than most other electronic devices (except for the original PlayStation3, otherwise known as the Sony Spaceheater).
   
   *PowerPC applications run well under Rosetta. Once it is downloaded automatically, upon demand, it runs invisibly.

   Some early buyers have reported display problems
   
   *Sporadic screen flickering (Update: Apple released downloadable fixes for this on 21 Dec. and 1 Feb.)
   
   *Color temperature differences between the top and bottom of the screen
   
   *See the Apple Support discussion boards for details (links in the Comments area below)

   Bottom line: it’s the screen, the SCREEN, THE SCREEN!! Massive amounts of screen real estate, combined with fast performance, make the 27″ Aluminum iMac a true joy to use for both work and play. One star penalty for not making an extended keyboard standard and for the terrible built-in sound system.

   ——
   
   May 2010 Addendum
   
   Q: With hindsight, would I still buy this machine?
   
   A: Yes!

   Reply
9. Paul Chin says:

   July 21, 2010 at 4:22 pm

   Rating:
   First of all, Amazon did a great job shipping this computer to me, being a prime member I was able to get it shipped the next day for $3.99. I also saved a lot of money since I don’t have to pay CA sales tax which is almost 10%.

   Computer is awesome. The screen is the best thing about it, I can fit about three windows (firefox, word, excel etc) at one time at the highest resolution. It’s also nice that that the iMac is finally in 16:9 ratio which is the HD video standard. Wider is better for multitasking as well. Fortunately, I didn’t have any of the screen issues some early buyers had, at least not yet. Mine was purchased early March and so far no screen problems.

   Now for the obvious flaws. This computer will not wake up from sleep mode by moving the mouse or typing on the keyboard! The only way it will wake up from sleep mode is if you turn the computer on and off using the power button on the back. I checked forums to find a solution and it seems like this is a very prevalent problem. The only solution offered by apple care is a replacement or to reinstall the Mac OS. Both solutions seem like a huge hassle so I will just wait until they release a firmware update to fix this but until they do I have my sleep setting at 3 hours.

   The slot loading superdrive is also a problem since taking a CD out without scratching it is like playing operation. The slot drive is very narrow and it’s easy to scratch a CD against the metal edges of the opening.

   USB input placement is also inconvenient since they are on the lower back of the iMac, which is exactly the most difficult place to reach. Would have been a lot more convenient if they placed at least one USB input on the side of the computer. Again, I don’t see why this was so obvious to Apple.

   Also with such a beautiful screen, I find it disappointing that Apple made it so difficult and expensive to plug in an HDMI device such as a PS3 into it. There are no solutions offered by Apple but there are some third party devices and converters that will allow you to do this but they are quite pricey and iMac won’t be able to get sound from the HDMI source.

   Overall this computer is a great value, even when compared to PCs. No other manufacturer has a computer with a screen this large, a quad core processor, 512mb video card, 4gb ram (easily upgradeable), for under $2000. Especially since a 30″ cinema display goes for $1700, I don’t see how they managed to trim three inches and put a computer into it for $300 more.

   Reply
10. Robert C. Mustain says:

    July 21, 2010 at 5:00 pm

    Rating:
    This review is in agreement with *most* of the reviews for the iMAC. But the question I often get from friends and family is “Why buy a MAC? Isn’t PC so much better?”

    I currently own a 27″ iIMAC, a Gateway Laptop, and a Dell Inspiron. No, no power using here… my higher end AlienWare was sold to pay for my iMAC after it became unplayable due to some problem I can not figure out, my Gateway is good, but no main house computer, and my Inspiron is so old it should go to the museum.

    Soooooo at the risk of creating a MAC vs PC forum, here is my answer to that question in review form…

    First the CONS:

    1. Lurning Curve: There is a learning curve with the MAC X OS for long time PC users. I have used PC’s since 1989 when my parents bought their first PC upgrading from the Tandy 2000. The learning curve was the equivalent (at first) of trying to communicate with an Englishman’s slang terms vs American English. The curve was not insurmountable, and after a month I felt as though I had been using MAC’s all my life. I don’t see this being a problem for younger users, they always seem to grasp new tech faster.

    2. Gaming: The classic CON I heard for years before I finally bought my iMac was the games. This is not a huge con for me, as I am not an avid gamer by todays terms (i spend a “mere” 6-8 hours a week gaming). The amount of titles are lacking vs PC games, and MAC game ‘ports’ are not as content filled (unreliable updates) as their PC counterparts. This will appear in the PRO’s for reasons listed later.

    3. No Blu-Ray: I am not as passionate about Blu-Ray as others. I use it for movies on my big screen and nothing else. Pure and simple, external hard drives are more economical than Blu-Ray disks for both price and space available. I am a bit miffed that during my deployment had I decided I wanted to bring Blu-Rays (rather than use digital media, which is still, in my opinion a better option for those away from home and their big screen), I wouldn’t be able to watch them on my iMAC. It might even be nice to pop a Blu-Ray in the iMAC to watch one while my kids have reign over the TV, but it’s certainly not even close to a deal breaker.

    4. Compatability: The software compatability issues with MAC OS X are not insurmountable. There are various programs out there that allow you to use Windows software on your MAC. Office is now available for native run on MAC OS X, and that was a big deal for me because my school uses Word for everything, and my job basically requires Power Point in order to brief or conduct training. Using Parallels I have not had any issues running Windows software. In the end, the compatability issue grinds down to the money spent on Parallels (45$ when i got it) and the time spent to install the software. Not a big deal for me, since most MAC OS X software that came with the machine replaced almost all of the crap I had on my PC.

    5. Power Using: You can mod an iMAC just as much as you can mod a PC. But if you are one of the power user types that can’t possibly be satisfied with buying somthing and having it run as intended, you should probably get a PC, because you are the guy that has to have a 6 core computer (even though NOTHING requires one) and 3 graphics cards (again, NOTHING). If you bought that racecar that goes 240mph, even though you will never go that fast in it, then you should go ahead and keep buying a PC, and don’t buy a mac to go alongside it (you need that money for the electric bill). For those that have to upgrade their PC constantly, stay with your PC: PC’s are far easier to upgrade when you need a new motherboard, CPU, power etc etc. I never did those upgrades with my PC, however. If I couldn’t solve antiquity issues with a graphics card and RAM (which are easy to change in a MAC) then I just bought a new comp.

    6. One optical drive: 1 drive?! What? My PC always had at least 2! I thought this was a pain at first… until I realized that I havn’t used both drives on my PC since 1998. Thats a win for the external HDD.

    Now, the PRO’s

    1. Gaming: Yes, a pro and a con. I play WoW with settings maxed on my iMAC and have not once had issues in 14 days of playtime (not calender days, 14 days actually spent logged into the game). My add-ons work seamlessly and without issue (at least, not without the same issues I had on my PC, such as poorly built add-ons). Steam is a big issue with gamers (people hate the DRM issue) but they are doing all their new releases for MAC OS X to run natively (not ported, for those who know the difference). This is big for me, cause I am a big TotalWar fan, and will soon be playing them on my MAC minus Parallels.

    2. Price: You simply can’t build a computer with these specs for the price. For those of you that are looking to challenge this, take into consideration the monitor/screen quality. If you build a computer of these specs for less, you are buying a lower quality cooling system and monitor, thats the only way to do it. Too often, MAC’s are labeled as pricey, but the 27″ iMAC is excellent.

    3. Customer Service: I can’t review it to true faith (because I havn’t needed them) but they are top rated for customer service, and have their reps based in the United States who apparently have English as a first language (I’m looking at you Microsoft).

    4. Mod-ability: I am not a modder, I am not one of those guys that buys a new product and then spends weeks and months trying to tweak it for more power like Tim Allen. A good friend of mine IS a modder, and has modded his iMAC right alongside his PC. He uses his iMAC more than his PC because it looks nice, is ergonomic and doesn’t “…give him crap.” This is the guy that installed a liquid cooling system on his XBOX, put Windows on his PS3, and runs Windows, Linux and MAC OS X on his laptop, PC, and iMAC, and has several terabyte HDD’s filled with media, software and games. Also, adding a new graphics card and ram is simpler on the PC, not to mention doing a full upgrade. PC’s are just superior in this department (CON?).

    5. Community: PRO and CON, I guess. Apple buyers, in my opinion, are not the same as PC (powerusers) buyers. Apple guys expect simplicity and don’t expect you to know what DIMMM is. To quote Denzel Washington (albeit probly innacuratly) “I don’t need to know HOW it works, I just need to know how to USE it.” This sums up the majority of the Apple computing community. On the other hand, if you care what people think, non-Apple buyers tend to see Apple users as snobby and ‘uppity,’ and worst of all – trendy. The MAC is also a great conversation peice, because when your family and friends come over and see it, you get to engage in heated MAC vs PC debates that boil down to two separate products basically being equal, and differing only in user preference.

    6. Security/Reliability: No Apple computers are not secure out of the box. They are vulnerable to attack (or so it has been said by so many people). But in my 2 years of MAC I have gotten ZERO issues with viruses. I have had 1 issue with freezing (my computer freezes when I run TotalWar: ROME on Parralels – so I bought the MAC version). I don’t care if I live on the moon, which is incredibly vulnerable to attack, I’m pretty sure I would feel safe there because nobody has attacked it. My Windows PC was rife with viruses and somtime froze for the pettiest of reasons. I know that viruses (supposedly) exist for the MAC (google: Mac Virus – turned up a lot of forums asking if people even needed anti virus software, but I don’t see a specific reference to an actual virus written for MAC). I use MAC anti virus just in case, though.

    7. The Software: iLife is the *&#@. Many MAC users say they immediatly get rid of Safari when they buy their MAC, Safari has never given me issues. All my software has worked well. Running Windows programs with Parallels can give you a headache, but thats about it. On the other hand, I must state a disclaimer. One of the biggest lies about MAC is that the software is 100% superior and graphics editors should always buy a MAC. Not true. If you are one of these guys, the high end software for graphics editing is available on PC just the same as your MAC. When it comes to high end, PC has all the same stuff, and then some competitors, so you will actually have more options on your PC. I am not a hi-end user, and neither is the average consumer. The out-of-the-box, comes-with-my-mac software is awesome and useful, and I did not get a single “bloatware” program with my MAC.

    8. Looks: This thing just looks sexy, and a SINGLE wire for one computer is pretty amazing (and practical).

    Conclusion: 20 years of PC computing with DOS and then Windows were nothing compared to 2 years of computing with my MAC, I love it. Lovers of simplicity and out-of-the-box quality, this is for you. Lovers of power using and modding, stay with your PC.

    Reply
11. C. Fuller says:

    July 21, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    Rating:
    This version of Office 2008 is an improvement over Office 2004 in that it runs natively now on an Intel Mac. It is a major improvement in speed. And the stability has improved in that it has not crashed on me in the week it has been in use. Office 2004 used to crash almost daily before. If you do not have an Intel Mac do not bother with this upgrade. You are better off with Office 2004.

    The look on Office 2008 is aesthetically pleasing and is more consistent with the elegant look of OSX.

    That is about the best I have to say for this new upgrade. Word is so buggy I feel like I am working with a Beta version. I work a great deal with Spaces in Leopard and I have found that Word documents will jump to other windows. I have also found that when working in the notebook layout it can become unstable and partially disappear on me. The work arounds I have been using to stop this is I minimize the documents or I open another program in the Spaces window and then return to the document.

    Word is still an excellent word processing program. The Notebook layout is essential for the note taking that I have to do, which other word processing programs don’t have. Since I have to share documents with others it is handy to have a standard program with which to work.

    The default format in Word is now Microsoft’s .docx (xtml), which can be changed in the preferences to the more universal .doc.

    When I have gone to the Microsoft website they have admitted that many of these problems are bugs and that they are being addressed. Another work around that MS recommended in Word was to create a new template from which to operate as it seems that the present template can be easily corrupted.

    Since Office 2008 no longer works with macros and Visual Basic I have had to abandon the Excel self-calculating Invoice template I used to use all the way back to my PC days. I am now using a template that is in Pages – that works beautifully. The reason I am sticking with Excel over Numbers is that Excel is still a more powerful program. It keeps track of things that Numbers won’t keep track of.

    I am happier that Entourage is now more stable and responds better than the 2004 version. The My Day widget is a nice idea, but there is almost no room for customization and really makes no difference to how I organize my day.

    I am left wondering if Microsoft is planning to go out of business. It seems that their products are getting worse. It is as if they have become bereft of any sense of creativity or innovation.;0) I had read that Office 2008 was designed by Mac enthusiasts. I think that was Microsoft propaganda. The impression I get is that Microsoft does not care about Mac business.

    Is this a worthwhile upgrade? Not yet. If you can wait for the bugs to be worked out it will be a more satisfying upgrade. If you are dependent upon Visual Basic, or are operating on a PPC, save your money.

    Reply
12. Values Privacy says:

    July 21, 2010 at 6:53 pm

    Rating:
    I was running office 2004 and waiting for this. This review is limited but I was looking for specific things.

    The good:
    
    -universal binary (faster on intel macs)
    
    -PowerPoint now shows the slides on the left instead of just the text outline.
    
    -you can install it alongside office 2004 and run both versions on the same computer

    The bad:
    
    -dragging images from other apps doesn’t work anymore
    
    -when you paste an image in word or PowerPoint, it gets converted to a different format so that if you put it back to the original app it’s a simple picture instead of an editable one. (for example if you make an illustration in OmniGraffle, paste it in word 2008, you come back a week later and decide you want to tweak it, you can no longer copy the image back to OmniGraffle and edit it. You either must have saved the original or start over. Office 2004 didn’t do this and so sadly I’m more productive with office 2004).
    
    -installation is not drag and drop anymore and it installs things like silverlight without asking you. I feel my Mac got dirty now with who knows what installed where.

    What didn’t change
    
    -you still can’t generate motion paths in PowerPoint (to move objects around on a slide) like you can in the PC version since a few versions ago. But you can play this back fine if you generated the PowerPoint on a PC.

    Conclusion
    
    -intentionally crippled.
    
    -a step backward for me as I want to use it for lectures in my class but now I’m afraid to because I have hundreds of diagrams and illustrations that now will be locked in PowerPoint.
    
    -I’m going to completely use Keynote/Pages (iWork) from now on. Unfortunately some 3rd party apps require Office so I’m stuck with it. And it doesn’t have all the features yet of Office.
    
    -Unfortunately OpenOffice/NeoOffice exhibit the same image formating problem and they have their own issues.

    Disappointing.

    EDIT:
    
    I have since reformatted my computer and sold Office to a Colleague who needed it. Good Riddance. So long Microsoft.

    EDIT #2:
    
    To add a hopeful note, I discovered Nisus Pro word processor. It does (technical writing) things Pages doesn’t (e.g. index) and seems better than MS Word.

    EDIT #3 (Oct 2009)
    
    I’m doing fine without MS Office for a long time now. For very math heavy documents I use Lyx (free, little complicated to start but worth it). For casual word processing, I use Pages or Nisus or openoffice (typically one of these will open a doc or docx file correctly). I use Keynote for presentations with LaTeXiT (free) for math equations. And Numbers or openoffice has been adequate for spreadsheets. Since the new OS (snow leopard) has built in exchange support (which this version of office doesn’t), there is nothing lacking.

    Reply
13. Darcy says:

    July 21, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    Rating:
    I just bought a MacBook Pro 15″. I love it. I am an Attorney and so I was concerned about making sure everything I produce on this machine is compatible with microsoft documents and programs. I bought the Macbook Pro because I didn’t want to deal with Vista and because I am over microsoft in general –hot fixes, service packs, all sorts of SLOP work…and then this most recent and astounding inability to produce a stable product. Anyway, it was a big deal for me to buy a Macbook Pro rather than a Toshiba with Vista preloaded..I digress.

    THE PROBLEM: I loaded microsoft Office for Mac, 2008 Home and Student Edition with hopes of using it. I shortly found that COMMON fonts do not transfer in Word, Excel does not work as smoothly and then I received a “Welcome to Entourage” email from microsoft that literally overwrote a weeks worth of emails. Poof! all gone! (gratefully I only had a weeks worth before my welcome email) I called microsoft to ask if there was a way to unwrite the overwritten and was promptly told that I need to establish a “case number” before they could process my inquiry. A Case number? good grief—A CASE NUMBER. Is it that bad? Yes, I could see how many companies may want to sue microsoft for all kinds of things right now. Anyway, I promptly uninstalled Office for Mac 2008 and I will return it. Maybe microsoft will decide to fix this BETA, surely we can expect microsoft to service pack/ hot fix this product to death and then MAYBE in six months at least something as minor as the default settings will coincide with the real world.

    THE SOLUTION: I partitioned the hard drive on my macbook, installed WINDOWS XP and loaded my copy of 2003 Office Suite. Everything is perfect now. I get to have the very best laptop in the world and all this great functioning apple software (If you haven’t made the switch—you will love Apple –it’s so clean). I can create documents (because I must) THAT DON’T CRASH on the other side of my mac HD (the dark side). It’s like having two computers in one; the preferred being the Apple. Why can’t Apple make microsoft Office? (yes I really do know why).

    THE FUTURE: Will I ever install a microsoft product onto the mac side of my HD again? –Not until mircosoft decides to come clean and deliver a product that isn’t messed up. Who do these people think they are? How long do they think we’ll just take it? Well, this time I didn’t take it, instead—- I took it back.

    Reply
14. J. Klein says:

    July 21, 2010 at 7:22 pm

    Rating:
    Office 2008 is little more than window-dressing over the now-antiquated Office 2004. There are a few improvements to a few minor details, such as in Powerpoint 08′s custom animation workflow, where one can now select more than one graphic element to move order of appearance in the animation order panel, that is now optionally persistent (i.e. no longer in a modal dialog box that you have to click out of in order to see your changes.) Much like iMovie 2008, the software advertises a streamlined, simplified workflow for beginners to the software, with a few new predefined templates for such things as posters, collateral campaigns, etc. Yet also like the new iMovie, the “updated” software ignores the needs and wishes of its original constituency, more advanced users who have dutifully ponied up money update after update.

    For example, Office-for-Mac users have been waiting patiently for years and years for Office to enable its users to customize command key actions, to speed up workflows — such as the ability to tell office to link the key combination COMMAND + OPTION + I, say, to the action “import a new image.” Yet this ability, so fundamental to expert users, is missing from this update — and Microsoft has done nothing even to enable such repetitive actions with its own keystroke functions. The user is forced to import images using laborious menus or icon clicks.

    Even more galling, however, is the apparently anachronistic relationship between “Office 2008 for the Mac” and its analogue on the Windows side, Office 2007. Whereas Office 2007 offers a dramatically redesigned, much more contextual user interface (for better or for worse), Office 2008 for Mac features no such redesign — only a greatly fattened, Leopard-style grabber bar that features a few tools in its toolbar strip, a gross misuse of this new Leopard feature that, as far as I can tell, is impossible to remove.

    Further, new features included in Office 2007 for Windows are missing from Office 2008 for Mac. The former’s new ability to animate page elements along a path — moving them from one place on the screen to another — is missing from the latter. Although this new feature is primitive and buggy in Office 2007 (most attempts to zoom in and edit an animation path resulted in an abrupt move of the windows focus back to the center of the screen, for example — which is fine if you are editing a path that happens to BE in the center of the screen, but vexing and tedious if you’re editing an element on an edge of the slide, as you keep needing to rescroll over to it after everything you do).

    These and more features from Office 2007 I simply assumed would be in any product labeled “Office 2008″. Boy was I wrong.

    But wait — there’s more. Microsoft’s own registration system not only failed to complete, but was actually able to corrupt my Leopard MacBook’s keychain to boot — this last “surprise” leading to an apparently unnecessary deletion of my entire keychain — a HUGE pain). A look at Apple’s discussions revealed that apparently many users are experiencing such frankly inexcusable issues.

    To summarize, two familiar latin words come to mind for this clearly unambitious and half-baked piece of software:

    CAVEAT EMPTOR
    
    (BUYER BEWARE)

    Reply
15. J. White says:

    July 21, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    Rating:
    Overall this office suite is excellent. A word of cautiuon for those who use Excel for Scientific and technical work: Visual Basic(entire suite) and the Analysis Toolpack have been removed from Excel 2008. This applies to all office versions. Be careful that Microsoft is not in fact selling you a “downgrade”.

    Reply